Womply has joined a group of leading fintech companies in submitting a coalition letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, seeking to empower consumers with stronger data rights.
Womply believes that small businesses thrive when empowered by their data, and we’re dedicated to ensuring that any future rules from the CFPB ensure greater rights for consumers and businesses alike.
The full 50+ page comment letter, co-signed by Womply and others, lays out the current view of the fintech market, and vision for the future.
Here are the recommendations Womply is asking the CFPB to consider in their future rulemaking:
- Establish a broad data right that is consistent across direct and authorized access: Consumers’ financial data belongs to consumers, and their access to that data should not depend on who is currently holding that data. Right now some data holders restrict consumers’ ability to access their own data, which prevents consumers from benefiting from financial technology. The Bureau should require that a data holder can not limit any information that can be reasonably construed as belonging to the consumer for both direct and authorized access.
- Ensure a level playing field that includes all Americans: America’s banking ecosystem is robust and diverse, and not all banks have the same resources to invest in data sharing technologies. The Bureau must be careful to ensure that rulemaking does not generate an unlevel playing field for consumers, where consumers’ access differs depending on where they bank.
- Require transparency and controls: Consumers want to feel more in-control over their data, and industry can take steps to provide that control. The Bureau should establish strong guidelines for consumer transparency and control.
- Support standards-development in service of consumer rights: Industry will continue to collaborate to develop standards that promote access. The Bureau should take steps to ensure standards are in service of consumer rights, not of corporate interests.
As Plaid stated on their blog: The future of financial services has consumers at the center, free to take their data with them to any provider that meets their needs.
When small businesses control their financial data, it benefits them and their customers alike. Womply has seen this firsthand. And now is more important than ever to ensure that Main Street has the resources they need to thrive.
You can read the full coalition letter below: